CT family accuses doctor of vacuuming newborn's head 15 times, ignoring mother's request for c-section

A Connecticut family whose day-old infant died of a massive hemorrhage in February filed a lawsuit accusing a Greenwich Hospital delivery doctor of vacuuming the newborn’s head more than a dozen times during birth.

In a 78-page complaint filed last month in Connecticut Superior Court, the parents of Alexander M. Diaz, Danielle Mackenzie and Fabrice Diaz, allege that Mackenzie had been pushing without success for a little over 90 minutes when Dr. Jay Matut recommended she undergo a vacuum-assisted delivery.

Vacuum extraction is one of several techniques used by doctors to expedite labor, particularly in cases involving prolonged labor, irregular fetal heart rates, maternal exhaustion or certain maternal medical conditions. 

Medical experts note that vacuum-assisted deliveries — which account for roughly 2.5% of U.S. births — should be achieved with “no more than three sets of pulls and a maximum of two to three cup detachments.”

Experts also recommend that delivery doctors limit the total vacuum application time to between 20 and 30 minutes.

But the parents’ lawsuit alleges that Matut “inappropriately” utilized the vacuum during Mackenzie’s delivery, “despite known risks and knowing that there were inadequate maternal or fetal indications to do so.”

According to the complaint, Matut used the vacuum to pull the infant’s head a total of 15 times — five times the maximum number of recommended pulls — with two pop-offs.

“[Matut] knowingly placed the infant-plaintiff decedent at increased risk of harm by utilizing the vacuum for more than three pulls and/or greater than fifteen minutes of application time,” the complaint said.

Mackenzie and Diaz further allege that Matut continued the vacuum-assisted delivery for more than 30 minutes while “ignoring the maternal request for a cesarean section.”

“[Matut] deliberately chose to ignore the plaintiff mother’s request for a cesarean section … even though the defendant knew or had reason to know that converting to a cesarean section was medically necessary for the infant-plaintiff decedent’s safe delivery,” the complaint continued.

The infant was born just before 11 p.m. on Feb. 17 with head swelling consistent with bleeding between the skull and the scalp, according to the complaint. 

He was transferred to Greenwich Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator before eventually being moved to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he died on Feb. 18.

The complaint accuses Matut, Greenwich Hospital and Yale New Haven Health Services of negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and recklessness in the infant’s death.

When asked for a comment, a spokesperson for Greenwich Hospital provided NBC Connecticut with the following statement:

"Greenwich Hospital is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible. While we are unable to comment on pending litigation, we have offered our deepest condolences to the family."